Ulster County
Community College
Public Community College in Stone Ridge, NY. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $41,896.
Ten-year median earnings of $41,896 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Only 34% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,000. It also moves people — 2.3% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 34% graduate within six years. Just 59% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 24% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. A 23:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,265 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $6,521 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $2,754 at the $0–30k band to $14,725 at $110k+. 61% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,457 — common but not automatic. 12% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 334 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $2,754 |
| $30–48k | $3,770 |
| $48–75k | $7,771 |
| $75–110k | $11,780 |
| $110k+ | $14,725 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 154 of these 1,265 students, totalling $774,359 — an average of $5,028 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Ulster County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)